Conventional isolation or treatment of contaminated soils and sediments is by either “capping” or removal. Capping may use natural materials such as soils or gravel, or geosynthetic layers, or a combination of any of these.
Capping systems comprised of soil or gravel layers are relatively thick and prone to erosion and disturbance. This may cause mixing with the adjacent contaminated soil or sediment. In sub-aqueous applications, such as harbors or shipping channels, thick caps may present obstructions to ships. The cap may be damaged by the turbulence caused by ship traffic as well as by direct contact. Additionally, these thick caps are not designed to interact with any contaminant chemicals that may be in the pore fluid.
Contaminated sediment (sub-aqueous or otherwise) may be removed for ex situ treatment, simple off-site storage, or both. However, sub-aqueous sediment removal is expensive and can result in significant contaminant re-suspension in the overlying water column during removal of the sediment.
Embodiments of the present invention address the above deficiencies in a cost-effective manner.